Massimo Luciani

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

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The novel “The Ministry of Time” by Kaliane Bradley was published for the first time in 2024.

Some expatriates have been taken at various times of the past at the point of death and transported to a future London affected by climate change. To manage their adaptation to the new situation, the Ministry of Time is formed, a secret project that assigns each expatriate a so-called bridge.

Graham Gore was taken at the point of death in the Arctic during what in his future is known as Franklin’s lost expedition. To aid his adjustment, the Ministry of Time assigns him an Anglo-Cambodian woman with whom he lives in a specially prepared house. The relationship between the two of them isn’t easy, but their mutual understanding grows day by day, even as the project begins to reveal dark sides.

A diagram indicating the hominins that have left genetic traces in the DNA of modern humans.

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An article published in the journal “Science” reports the discovery of genes belonging to two previously unknown hominin species in the DNA of modern humans. A team of researchers led by the University of California, Berkeley used a new algorithm called TRACE (TRacking Archaic Contributions via ARG Estimation), which they developed to reconstruct genetic relationships among hundreds of living human genomes. This allowed them to recognize two archaic genetic components from hominins that interbred with Homo sapiens in Africa over 50,000 years ago, and another from an interbreeding that occurred approximately 1.8 million years ago. The super-archaic genes of the second group don’t derive from a different interbreeding with modern humans, but from an interbreeding with the Denisovans.

Camp Concentration by Thomas M. Disch

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The novel “Camp Concentration” by Thomas M. Disch was published for the first time in 1967, serialized in the magazine “New Worlds” and later as a book.

Louis Sacchetti was imprisoned as a conscientious objector who refused to participate in the war that had pitted the United States against virtually the entire world. Even in that situation, he tried to continue writing poetry, but after some time, he was transferred to a secret facility run by the military.

In his new prison, Louis Sacchetti discovers he was transferred to Camp Archimedes, where he becomes part of an intelligence-enhancement experiment. After being interviewed by resident psychiatrist Aimee Busk, he becomes a guinea pig for a treatment based on a derivative of the syphilis bacterium. Its negative side effect is that it’s even more lethal than syphilis itself.

Illustration by artist Peter Trusler depicting the interaction between an ichthyosaur, a pterosaur, and a pliosaur. (Image courtesy Peter Trusler)

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An article published in the journal “Gondwana Research” reports the discovery of an ichthyosaur fossil in present-day Australia that preserved the contents of its stomach, which includes the remains of a pterosaur. The ichthyosaur itself shows remarkable signs of having been bitten by a pliosaur, which literally broke its bones. A team of researchers led by Dr. Matt White of the University of New England studied these fossils and reconstructed this snapshot of the ecosystem in which these animals lived during the Cretaceous Period. The result reveals a portion of the food chain that existed in that area approximately 100 million years ago.

The Return of Santiago by Mike Resnick

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The novel “The Return of Santiago” by Mike Resnick was published for the first time in 2003. It’s the sequel to “Santiago.”

Danny Briggs is a petty thief who wants to make a name for himself but must first evade justice. During his escape, he hides in a house where he discovers the original manuscript of the great poet Black Orpheus. Specifically, the manuscript contains a poem about the legendary outlaw Santiago and the revelation that he wasn’t a single man but a sort of title used by various men in the course of decades.

Inspired by his discovery, Danny Briggs decides to become the new Black Orpheus under the pen name Dante Alighieri. He decides that he needs to find a new Santiago to give meaning to his work. He finds the thief who uses the pen name Waltzing Matilda, a descendant of one of the Santiagos, and convinces her to help him find the right man to revive the legend.